First Quarter
The Nuggets looked like they forgot how to play basketball at the start of this game. The Clippers were playing relatively normal for them – Norman Powell hit a three, Derrick Jones Jr. got a dunk, they had 7 points in the first 4 minutes. Not an unreasonable number either way. The Nuggets, on the other hand, had two early turnovers, a smorgasbord of missed layups, and a grand total of 2 points through the first four minutes.
From there the only thing that got sorted out was Nikola Jokic. Peyton Watson started in place of Aaron Gordon, who was brought off the bench to ease him back into play after being out since November 4th. He looked like he did during early season – out of sorts. The Nuggets also looked discombobulated on defense. There were multiple possessions where the Clippers generated easy looks off backdoor cuts and the Nuggets’ late rotations. Nikola had 15 points in the first quarter and played all 12 minutes. He did it on 7 of 10 from the field, and the rest of the team combined for 3 of 13 from the floor. It was Jokic and no one else as the Nuggets went down 23-32 after the first frame.
Second Quarter
The team has a sense of humor though, because as soon as Jokic subbed out, they went on a 17-8 run to close the lead to 3 points. Jamal Murray poured in 5 quick points to start the quarter, and then threw a dumb turnover. Russ missed a couple layups, but Julian Strawther getting a putback layup got him going a little bit. He had also scored a little floater beforehand, and then got an and-1 after. That flurry of 7 points brought them within 6 points. The Clippers scored here or there, mostly through Jordan Miller who had 8 points before the 6 minute mark in the quarter. The final shot before a timeout came from an Aaron Gordon three pointer, which was nice to see go in.
Then Jokic checked back in and the momentum kept rolling for a bit, going up by as much as 4. Which, hey, you’ll take that after the start the Nuggets have. However, they didn’t keep it up forever, and some lackluster defense again led the Clippers to getting back to going. The two teams ended the half tied at 59 a piece.
Third Quarter
The third quarter was a very back and forth affair for the first 6 minutes. A Peyton Watson layup here, a James Harden bucket there, oh look! A Nikola Jokic putback. Oh holy smokes! Amir Coffey layup! They traded buckets is what I’m getting at. The Nuggets’ offense looked pretty solid, and ultimately they put together a solid run to go up by 10. It saw Michael Porter Jr., Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic, and Aaron Gordon all getting involved at differing points. The offense was clicking, but say it with me as you read this – it can never be that freaking simple.
The Nuggets let James Harden get going after they started over helping on drives. Guess who they left open off the help? James Harden! Why?!? Why would you do that? They did it on back to back possessions too! Just play some defense on the second best shooter statistically of all time. Guess not? Well, that gave the Clippers the spark they needed and it ended up getting them a run that got them up by 2 going into the final frame, 92-90.
Fourth Quarter
The fourth quarter sucked. It was bad. Let me thumb through a thesaurus real quick. The fourth quarter was as follows; awful, dreadful, inferior, lousy, poor, terrible, abominable, atrocious, careless, deficient, dis-satisfactory, erroneous, imperfect, shoddy, second rate, substandard, unacceptable, and uncouth. The Nuggets couldn’t defend Air Bud in the fourth quarter. There’s not a ton of analysis to be made here. The Nuggets weren’t good enough – a theme that has become all too common. Clippers win 126-122.
What To Listen To
Screw it, another drinking song. This one is about a crew using some voodoo to turn the ship around. Maybe the Nuggets should take some notes! And maybe you need a drink. Maybe I need some sleep. Enjoy.
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